Political commentary from the LA Times

If you're someone who loves poring over ancient emails, even if they're not yours, today is The Big Day.

The state of Alaska has released 300 pounds of emails from Sarah Palin's term as governor up there, from inauguration until shortly after that old geezer John McCain threw a Hail Sarah pass and picked her as his Republican VP partner in September 2008.

The GOP pair didn't win.

Because Palin hasn't been governor for years, is not running for any office at the moment and keeps making gobs of money, lots of public comments and attracts tons of lovers and haters, news media interest in what she'd written as a nobody governor is intense.

Some apparently understaffed news orgs have even asked for the public's help in sifting through roughly 13,000 emails on 24,000 pieces of paper, which the state is charging about $750 to acquire. Remarkably, however, such organizations felt no need to seek volunteer public scrutiny digesting President Obama's large healthcare bill that Nancy Pelosi warned had to be passed before public examination.

Surely more huge revelations in coming days. But so far, no smoking cursors in the Palin paper poundage.

We've learned that having unexpectedly upset the state's entrenched, aged Republican political establishment as an anti-corruption reformer, Palin is suspicious of signs of opposition forming in those wings, including the state's congressional delegation, which includes the daughter of the man she ousted.

We've learned that Palin talked with Newt Gingrich but soured on that relationship; welcome to that club. That she was surprised at being picked by McCain.

Amazingly, even back then a lot of people seem to dislike Palin, even enough to make death threats. As governor, Palin liked to drive her own car in that vast state and once may have texted while behind the wheel. And we now know that Palin paid for her daughters' tanning bed.